Dole pitches Petraeus 2012

Forget the CIA job. Bob Dole wants to see Gen. David Petraeus run against President Barack Obama next year.

“We’re due for another Eisenhower,” said the former Senate majority leader and 1996 GOP presidential candidate during a visit over the weekend to his hometown of Russell, Kan., the Salina Journal reported.

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Like Eisenhower, Dole called Petraeus, a fellow military man “a steady hand.”

“It’s time for somebody that the American people can have confidence in,” said Dole.

Obama has nominated Petraeus, who’s leading U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, to head the CIA, replacing Defense Secretary nominee Leon Panetta. The general has repeatedly denied any interest in running for president.

Obama is “articulate and a good speaker,” Dole said. “As long as the teleprompter is working, he’ll be okay.”

Nonetheless, Dole predicted that beating Obama is “gonna be an uphill battle,” though possible. Regardless of who wins, the country needs “fewer press conferences” and more meetings where work gets done.

Dole, who turns 88 in July, was making his first visit back to Russell in three years. His sister told the Salina Journal that she thought it might be the last time through town for the ailing former Kansas senator.